Battery box

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of assembly of a battery pack, and particularly, to a battery pack. The battery pack includes a housing. A plurality of cells is arranged in interior of the housing. A structural adhesive is filled between a bottom of the housing and the plurality of cells, and the plurality of cells is adhered to the housing through the structural adhesive. In the battery pack, the cells are arranged in the interior of the housing, and the housing is adhered to the cells through the structural adhesive.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is based on International Application No.PCT/CN2017/080440 filed Apr. 13, 2017, which claims priority to ChinesePatent Application No. 201610339171.6, filed on May 20, 2016, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of packing technologies forbattery pack and, and in particular, relates to a battery pack.

BACKGROUND

In order to achieve the purpose of heat dissipation for batteries, theexisting heat dissipation structure of a battery pack generally adopts astructure in which metal is in contact with a thermal pad or adopts aliquid conduction structure. Modules are provided in the interior of thebattery pack, and each module has a frame structure separated from theheat dissipation assembly. Cells are mounted in the module, and adjacentcells are fixed by adhesion.

In the existing battery pack, the cells shall be first adhered with eachother, and then mounted in a frame structure of modules in the interiorof the battery pack. Since the cells need to be first assembled with themodule, the number of components of the battery pack is increased,resulting in a complicated manufacture process and thus a high cost.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a battery pack, aiming to omit the framestructure of the module by adopting a structural adhesive, so as toreduce the number of the components in the battery pack, therebysimplifying manufacture process and reducing manufacturing cost.

The present disclosure provides a battery pack, which includes ahousing. A plurality of cells are arranged in interior of the housing. Astructural adhesive is filled between a bottom of the housing and theplurality of cells. The plurality of cells are adhered to the housingthrough the structural adhesive.

In an embodiment, another structural adhesive is filled between adjacentcells of the plurality of cells, and the adjacent cells are adhered toeach other by the another structural adhesive. The structural adhesivebetween the bottom of the housing and the plurality of cells and theanother structural adhesive between the adjacent cells of the pluralityof cells are in an integrated structure.

In an embodiment, the battery pack further includes a cell fixing boardconnected to the housing. The cell fixing board is pressed onto theplurality of cells, and the plurality of cells are located between thehousing and the cell fixing board.

In an embodiment, the battery pack further includes a mounting boltscrewed with the housing by penetrating through the cell fixing boardand the structural adhesive.

In an embodiment, the cell fixing board has an electrode hole, and anelectrode of the cell protrudes out of the electrode hole.

In an embodiment, the structural adhesive is a thermal conductivestructural adhesive.

In an embodiment, the thermal conductive structural adhesive is a liquidadhesive.

In an embodiment, the thermal conductive structural adhesive has aheight no greater than one-sixth of a height of each of the plurality ofcells.

In an embodiment, the battery pack further includes an insulation traylocated between the housing and the plurality of cells. The insulationtray has a tray adhesive channel, and the structural adhesive protrudesthrough the tray adhesive channel to adhere to both the housing and theplurality of cells.

In an embodiment, the insulation tray includes a separating boardlocated adjacent cells of the plurality of cells. The separating boardhas a separating board adhesive channel, and the structural adhesiveprotrudes through the separating board adhesive channel to adhere to theadjacent cells at two sides of the separating board adhesive channel.

The technical solutions provided in the present disclosure can bring thefollowing beneficial effects.

In the battery pack provided in the present disclosure, the cells arearranged in the interior of the battery pack, and the battery pack isadhered to the cells through the structural adhesive. Since thestructural adhesive can function as fixing the cells, the framestructure of the module can be omitted, such that the number ofcomponents in the battery pack can be reduced, thereby simplifyingmanufacture process, improving assembling efficiency and reducingmanufacturing cost. Moreover, since the module is no longer needed, theheight of the battery pack can be lowered and the volume energy densityratio can be improved.

It should be understood that the above general description and thefollowing detailed description are only illustrative, rather than beingintended to limit the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a battery pack according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a battery pack according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a battery pack according to anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a local enlarged view of portion A in FIG. 3.

REFERENCE SIGNS

-   -   10—housing;    -   20—battery pack cover;    -   30—battery monitoring unit;    -   40—structural adhesive;    -   50—sealing ring;    -   60—cell;    -   70—mounting bolt;    -   80—cell fixing board.

The drawings are incorporated into the specification and constitute apart thereof, illustrating embodiments conforming to the presentdisclosure and used together with the specification to explain theprinciple of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure will be described in further detail by thefollowing embodiments with reference to the drawings. The “front”,“rear”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, “lower” used in the context arereferring to placements of the battery pack and components thereof shownin the drawings.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a battery pack, as shownin FIG. 1. The battery pack includes a housing 10 and a battery packcover 20. The battery pack cover 20 covers the housing 10 to form asealed accommodating space in the interior thereof. Cells 60 arearranged in the accommodating space, and an electrode terminal of thecell 60 is closer to the battery pack cover 20 than the bottom of thecell. The bottom of the housing 10 is filled with a structural adhesive40. The battery pack can further include a cell fixing board 80, aninsulation tray and a sealing ring 50. For convenience of monitoring astate of the entire battery pack (including monitoring electricquantity, temperature etc.), a battery monitoring unit 30 can also bemounted to the housing 10.

The bottom of the housing 10 has through-holes defined therein along thecircumference, as shown in FIG. 1, for mounting of other externalcomponents to the battery pack. The housing 10 can be connected to thebattery pack cover 20 through bolt connection or clamping connection.

As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the structural adhesive 40 is used for fixing thecells 60. To be specific, a plurality of cells 60 are arranged in theinterior of the housing 10, the structural adhesive 40 is filled betweenthe bottom of the housing 10 and the cells 60, and the cells 60 areadhered to the housing 10 through the structural adhesive 40. Thestructural adhesive 40 can also be filled between adjacent cells 60, sothat side walls of two adjacent cells 60 are adhered by the structuraladhesive 40. Moreover, the structural adhesive 40 between the bottom ofthe housing 10 and the cells 60 and the structural adhesive 40 betweenadjacent cells 60 can be in an integrated structure, so as to furtherfix the cells 60.

In the above embodiment, the cells 60 are arranged in the interior ofthe housing 10, and the housing 10 is adhered to the cells 60 throughthe structural adhesive 40. Since the structural adhesive 40 functionsto fix the cells 60, the frame structure of the module can be omitted,so that the number of components in the battery pack can be reduced,thereby saving manufacture process, improving assembling efficiency, andlowering manufacture cost. In addition, the conventional battery modulegenerally has a height greater than the cell, and thus the height of thebattery pack may be increased accordingly. However, in the presentdisclosure, since no module is needed, the height of the battery packcan be lowered, thereby increasing the volume energy density ratio.

The number of the cells 60 can be determined based on actualrequirements, and can be one, two, three, four or more.

The structural adhesive 40 can be a thermal conductive structuraladhesive, and also can be a normal adhesive. The structural adhesive 40can be a solid adhesive or a liquid adhesive. In an embodiment, theabove structural adhesive 40 is a thermal conductive structuraladhesive. The thermal conductive structural adhesive can achieve boththe functions of fixing the cells 60 and thermal conduction. Inparticular, in the solution in which the structural adhesive 40 isfilled between two adjacent cells 60, a larger amount of heat willaccumulate at side walls of the cells 60 after the cells 60 are arrangedin the housing 10. According to the present disclosure, the side wallsof adjacent cells 60 are adhered by the thermal conductive structuraladhesive, and the thermal conductive structural adhesive between theside walls of the cells 60 and the thermal conductive structuraladhesive for adhering the cells 60 to the housing 10 are in anintegrated structure. This can better transfer the heat of the cells 60to the housing 10 while reducing thermal conductive medium, therebyimproving heat dissipation efficiency.

The thermal conductive structural adhesive can be a solid adhesive, andcan also be a liquid adhesive, as an example. Due to the fluidity of theliquid adhesive, when the cells 60 are arranged in the housing 10, atighter contact between the cells 60 and the housing 10 can be achieved,so that the thermal conductive structural adhesive can be distributedmore uniform to obtain better thermal conduction effect, therebyachieving the better temperature uniformity of the cells 60 and thusimproving service life of the cells 60.

The thermal conductive structural adhesive contains a silica gel, andthus it can both fix the structure and act as a good thermal conductivemedium. The thermal conductive structural adhesive can have a height notgreater than one-sixth of a height of the cell 60. The height of thethermal conductive structural adhesive can be one-sixth, one-seventh orless of the height of the cell 60, so as to ensure the energy densityratio. The height of the thermal conductive structural adhesive can begreater than one-sixth of the height of the cell 60, for example,one-fourth or more of the height of the cell 60.

The cell fixing board 80 is connected to the housing 10 and located inthe interior of the accommodating space, and is used to further fix thecell 60. The cell fixing board 80 is pressed on the cell 60, and thecell 60 is located between the housing 10 and the cell fixing board 80.The cell fixing board 80 can be provided with an electrode hole, andwhen the cell fixing board 80 is pressed on the cell 60, an electrode ofthe cell 60 will protrudes out of the electrode hole for furtherassembling and connection.

The connection between the housing 10 and the cell fixing board 80 canbe clamping connection, riveting or bolt connection. As an example, thehousing 10 and the cell fixing board 80 can be connected through amounting bolt 70. That is, the mounting bolt 70 successively penetratesthrough the cell fixing board 80 and the structural adhesive 40, andthen gets into a bolt connection with the housing 10. Penetrating themounting bolt through the structural adhesive 40 can achieve morereliable fixation of the cell 60.

The sealing ring 50 is used for preventing electrolyte from leaking tothe outside of the battery pack and preventing liquid, dust and the likefrom entering into the battery pack. The sealing ring 50 can be made asa circular ring, or can be made as a sealing strip. The sealing ring 50is arranged along the circumference of the housing 10 and locatedbetween the battery pack cover 20 and the housing 10, and is tightlypressed between the battery pack cover 20 and the housing 10.

The insulation tray is located between the housing 10 and the cells 60,and is provided with a tray adhesive channel. The structural adhesive 40protrudes through the tray adhesive channel and achieves adhesion to thehousing 10 and the cells 60. Such a structure can insulate the cells 60from the housing 10.

The insulation tray can be provided with a separating board locatedbetween adjacent cells. The separating board is provided with aseparating board adhesive channel, through which the structural adhesive40 protrudes to adhere to adjacent cells 60 at two sides thereof. Such astructure can achieve the function of insulating adjacent cells 60.

The insulation tray and the separating board can be in a mesh-shapedstructure, in which the tray adhesive channel and the separating boardadhesive channel are meshes of the mesh-shaped structure. The insulationtray and the separating board can be in a sponge structure, in which thetray adhesive channel and the separating board adhesive channel areflocculent holes of the sponge structure. The insulation tray and theseparating board can be in a flat-plate structure, in which the trayadhesive channel and the separating board adhesive channel are throughholes distributed in the flat plate.

In an embodiment of the battery pack without the insulation tray, thefollowing assembling method is adopted.

The first step is to pour a certain amount of structural adhesive 40into the interior of the housing 10 in such a manner that the structuraladhesive 40 is uniformly spread over the bottom of the housing 10. Inorder to guarantee the volume energy density ratio, the height of thestructural adhesive 40 is no greater than one-sixth of the height of thecell 60, for example.

The second step is to, before the structural adhesive 40 is solidified,arrange a certain number of cells 60 in the interior of the housing 10in such a manner that the structural adhesive 40 is placed between thecells 60 and the housing 10, and that after the structural adhesive 40is solidified, the cells 60 and the housing 10 are directly adheredthrough the structural adhesive 40. The cells 60 can be arrangedseparately in the housing 10, or can be arranged in the housing 10 afterbeing packed.

The third step is to, before the structural adhesive 40 is solidified,tightly press the cell fixing board 80 onto the cells 60, and penetratethe mounting bolt 70 through the cell fixing board 80 and the structuraladhesive 40 and then connect it to the bottom of the housing 10, so asto fasten the cell fixing board 80 to the housing 10. Specifically, themounting bolt 70 is tightly threaded into a corresponding threaded holeof the housing 10 before the structural adhesive 40 is solidified, sothat when the structural adhesive 40 is solidified, the mounting bolt 70is also adhered to the structural adhesive 40. This can achieve the morereliable fixation of the cells 60.

The fourth step is to mount the cell monitoring unit 30 into the housing10, place the sealing ring 50 on the housing 10, cover the battery packcover 20 on the housing 10, and tightly press the sealing ring 50 byfastening the battery pack cover 20 with the housing 10.

In an embodiment of the battery pack having the insulation tray, thefollowing assembling method is adopted.

The first step is to place the insulation tray having the separatingboard in the bottom of the housing 10.

The second step is to arrange a certain number of cells 60 in theinterior of the housing 10 in such a manner that the insulation tray isplaced between the cells 60 and the housing 10 and the separating boardis located between adjacent cells 60. The cells 60 can be arrangedseparately in the housing 10, or can be arranged in the housing 10 afterbeing packed.

The third step is to tightly press the cell fixing board 80 onto thecells 60.

The fourth step is to pour a certain amount of structural adhesive 40into the interior of the housing 10 in such a manner that the structuraladhesive 40 is uniformly spread over the bottom of the housing 10. Inorder to guarantee the volume energy density ratio, the height of thestructural adhesive 40 is no greater than one-sixth of the height of thecell 60, for example.

The fifth step is to, before the structural adhesive 40 is solidified,penetrate the mounting bolt 70 through the cell fixing board 80 and thestructural adhesive 40 and then connect it to the bottom of the housing10, so as to fasten the cell fixing board 80 to the housing 10.Specifically, the mounting bolt 70 is tightly threaded into acorresponding threaded hole of the housing 10 before the structuraladhesive 40 is solidified, so that when the structural adhesive 40 issolidified, the mounting bolt 70 is also adhered to the structuraladhesive 40. This can achieve the more reliable fixation of the cells60.

The sixth step is to mount the cell monitoring unit 30 into the housing10, place the sealing ring 50 on the housing 10, cover the battery packcover 20 on the housing 10, and tightly press the sealing ring 50 byfastening the battery pack cover 20 with the housing 10.

The above are some embodiments of the present disclosure, which shallnot be interpreted as constituting limitations thereto. For thoseskilled in the art, the present disclosure can have variousmodifications and alternations. Any modifications, equivalentsubstitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principle ofthe present disclosure shall be regarded as falling into the protectionscope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery pack, comprising a housing and abattery pack cover, wherein a plurality of cells are arranged ininterior of the housing, a structural adhesive is filled between abottom of the housing and the plurality of cells, the bottom of thehousing is opposite to the battery pack cover, and the plurality ofcells are adhered to the housing through the structural adhesive,wherein the structural adhesive is a thermal conductive structuraladhesive for both fixing the plurality of cells and thermal conduction,and the thermal conductive structural adhesive filled between the bottomof the housing and the plurality of cells has a height no greater thanone-sixth of a height of each of the plurality of cells.
 2. The batterypack according to claim 1, wherein another structural adhesive is filledbetween adjacent cells of the plurality of cells, and the adjacent cellsare adhered to each other by the another structural adhesive; thestructural adhesive between the bottom of the housing and the pluralityof cells and the another structural adhesive between the adjacent cellsof the plurality of cells are in an integrated structure.
 3. The batterypack according to claim 1, further comprising a cell fixing boardconnected to the housing, wherein the cell fixing board is pressed ontothe plurality of cells, and the plurality of cells are located betweenthe housing and the cell fixing board.
 4. The battery pack according toclaim 3, further comprising a mounting bolt screwed with the housing bypenetrating through the cell fixing board and the structural adhesive.5. The battery pack according to claim 3, wherein the cell fixing boardhas an electrode hole, and an electrode of the cell protrudes out of theelectrode hole.
 6. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein thethermal conductive structural adhesive is a liquid adhesive.
 7. Thebattery pack according to claim 1, further comprising an insulation traylocated between the housing and the plurality of cells, wherein theinsulation tray has a tray adhesive channel, and the structural adhesiveprotrudes through the tray adhesive channel to adhere to both thehousing and the plurality of cells.
 8. The battery pack according toclaim 7, wherein the insulation tray comprises a separating boardlocated adjacent cells of the plurality of cells, the separating boardhas a separating board adhesive channel, and the structural adhesiveprotrudes through the separating board adhesive channel to adhere to theadjacent cells at two sides of the separating board adhesive channel. 9.The battery pack according to claim 7, wherein the insulation tray isconfigured to insulate the plurality of cells from the housing.